Trolley-wire support



(No Model.)

L. McCARTHY. TROLLBY WIRE SUPPORT.

In E

4 m. Ki

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS MCCARTHY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

'II'ROLLEY-WIRE SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 520,937, dated June 5,1894. Application filed March 3, 1894. Serial No. 502,252l (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS MCCARTHY, a citizen of the United States,residing at'Boston, in the county of Sufiolk and Stateof Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Trolley-WireSupports, of which the following is a specification, reference being badtherein to the accompanying drawings.

It is frequently desirable in the construction of electrical railways inwhich an overhead trolley wire is employed, to employ only a single rowof uprights or posts which are located at one side of the track andwhich are provided with bracket arms which extend over the track and bymeans of'which the trolley wire is supported. These bracket arms arerigid and unyielding and when the trolley wire is supported from .thebracket arm by means of an interposed insulator, which is rigidlysecured to the said arm, a practically rigid-support is obtained for thetrolley wire. It has been found in practice that a rigid support for thetrolleywire is undesirable since the vibrations to which the wire issubjected will act to cause a breakage of the wire or of some part towhich it is directly connected. 7 A rigid connection of the trolley wirewith its supporting means is also objectionable for other reasons whichare well-known to those skilled in the art and which it is not necessaryto specify. To ayoid a rigid connection between the trolley wire and itssupporting means, namely the bracket arms, it has been proposed tosecure the trolley Wire insulator to a span Wire stretched betweendownwardly projecting portions ofthe bracket arms. This has provedobjectionable in that such a span wire is relatively short and if ofsufficient size to be strong enough for its work and tightly stretchedas it requires to be it is very rigid and does not afford the advantagesof a yielding or non-rigid support such for example, as the ordinaryspan wire, which is stretched between posts which are on opposite sidesof the street. v

My invention has for its object to provide a bracket arm with a meansfor supporting a trolley wire and its insulator which shall be free fromthe objections above indicated, and it consists in a means of supportfor said troltion which is hereinafter referred to.

ley wire which is intermediate said wire and the bracketarm and which isof the construction' hereinafter described.

The novel features of my invention are ,pointed out in the claims whichare appended hereto and which form a part hereof.

I have shown my invention in the accompanying drawings, to whichreference is made in the following description, and in which- Figure 1is a side elevation of a portion of a bracket arm with my device appliedthereto. Fig. 2-is a similar view showing a modifica- Fig. 3 is asection on line 33 Fig. 2.

Having reference to the drawings, the bracket arm which projects overthe point at which the trolley wire is to be located is shown at 2,andthe trolley wire is shown at 3. The trolley wire is supporteddirectly by means of a clip or ear 4 which is secured to the insulator 5in the well-known manner. Theinsulator 5 may be of any well-knownconstruction andis provided at opposite sides thereof with eyes 6. Theprecise method of securing the eyes 6 to the insulator is immaterial tomy present invention, but I prefer to form said eyes upon opposite sidesof and integral with a cap or saddle 7 within which the upper portion ofthe exterior of the insulator proper fits, and which is secured theretoby means of a retaining screw or in any other well-known manner. Thebracket arm 2 is provided with two collars or clips 8 which are set onthe arm above the point at which the trolley Wire passes the arm'and onopposite sides of a point directly above said wire. These clips 8 arepreferably of the peculiar construction hereinafter described and areeach provided with an eye 9 which preferably projects downwardlyunderneath the arm 2. The insulator 5 is hung from the eyes 9 by meansof two oppositely extending sections of chain 10 each of which engagesat one end one of the eyes 9 and at the other one of the eyes 6, itbeing suspended by means of such sections of chain below thepoints "ofattachment of the said sections'to the said arm. The insulator therebyis left unconstrained by its supporting devices and is free to respondto the vibrations of the wire which is attached thereto. For greaterconvenience so as to permit of the free movement of oneof the parts orlinks of thechain connector relative to the other part or parts thereof.The clips or collars 8 are constructed as follows: Each clip consists oftwo parts 11 and 12 each of which extends around substantially one halfof the bracket arm 2. The part 11 of said clip is provided at its loweredge witha downward projection 13 in the lower endof. whichis formed theeye 9. The upper-edge of the partzll at the opposite side of the clip isprovided with an upwardly projectinglip 14. Theother part, or half, 12of the clip is provided at its lower edge with a horizontallyprojectingeye 15 in which the downward projection 13is inserted when the clip isin operative position; the upper edge of the part.12 is provided with anupwardly projecting lip 16 corresponding in shape. to the lip let-on thepart 11. is passedthrough thelips 14 and 16' and is held in. place bymeans of a nut 18which is screwed onto the said bolt. By this means theparts'of the clip are firmly secured together and-to the bracket arm. Insecuring.

the clip to the arm, it. is only necessary to put the part 11inposition,.pass the eye 15 over the downwardly'projectingpart 13, raisethe part 12 "into position against the bracket arm,

insertthe bolt 17 "and screw home the nut 18. In. like-manner; the clipmay be readily removed .from the bracket arm byremoving the.

securing nut andibolt and striking'the parts of the collars to loosenthem in case they are rusted or-for any'reason refuse to separate 1readilyfrom the arm. As there is considerable play between the eye15'andthe projection 13, the two parts of the clip maybe con:nectedandthe chain connectors broughtinto engagement with the eyes-9,before the clips are securedto. the bracket arm. In this way my deviceas awhole may be put together and shipped'readyfor use.

The form of my'device which Ihave hereinabove described'and which isshown in Fig. 1 is intend'edby me. for use on. straight lines where thetendency of the trolley. in passing along the trolley wire is chiefly topress the wire upward In such cases,.the wire is held downby, itsweightwhich at any given point exceeds the. upward pressure of the trolleysprings so that the wire is heldIin position while at the same time itis permitted to yield, to accommodate itself to thevibrations ormovements of thewire. When, however, the line is carried around a curve,the press- A securing bolt 17.

iure of the trolley on the wire is somewhat and I have thereforeprovided a slightly modified form of my device for use more especiallyon curves although as will be clear 1 the modified form mayalso be usedon straight lines. The modification is shown in Fig. 2. In that form ofdevice I substitute in place of the eyes 9, a downwardly projecting armor stem 20 which is provided with two eyes. The upper of these eyesshown at 21 is in substantiallythe'same position asthe eye 9 1n.theotherform of, my device. An additional eye 22 is formed at the lowerend of each of the downwardly projecting arms 20. The eyes "6 of theinsulator are replaced by the larger of the other construction althoughthey occupy a somewhat. higher. position relatively to the insulator.The eyes24=serveto secure the insulator to the ,lower-endsof the down{ward projections 20 by'means of checks 25 j preferably of the coiledform shown. Bythis iarrangementt the insulator is held at four i pointsand itis at thesametime allowed to yield sufficiently to prevent allinjury from the vibration'ofithe trolley; In case the wire fissubjectedto lateral pressure, it"is also permitted to yield'byreasonofthe-spring26 as lalsobyreason of thechaimonlink portionof the. checkeach link of. which. formsa joint. iAfterthe pressure upon the trolleywire has ipassed'the weightof: the partsas-also the action of thesprings 26 insures itsreturntoits normalposition.

The devicewis strong and durable, readily put inplace and while-holdingthe wire securely and firmlyadmits; of the necessary movement sothat-all danger" to the wire; or the connected parts from vibration ofthe wire or the like is reducedto;a minimum;

1 WhatI claim is--- 1. A trolley wiresupport comprisingzasupporting-arm,an. insulator, and jointed connectors extending upwardly'in opposite di:rections from the saidinsulator and suspending. it 'below the pointsofiattachmentof the said connectors to the said' arm, leaving theinsulator:unconstrainedby its supportingd'evices and free to respond tothevibrations of .the trolley wire, substantially as set forth;

2. A trolleywire. supportcomprisingarsup portingarm aninsulator,-.jointed connectors extending oppositely from thesaidinsulator andlsuspending, it from the" said arm, and jointedchecksconnectedatiheir inner-ends with the said insulator and at their'outerends with projections from said arm, saidchecks being provided withsprings, substantially'as set forth.

or. partsprovided atone side of the clip with projections or lips forthe reception of a retaining bolt, one of said halves or parts havprojections havingtwo-eyes shown at 23 and 24. The eyes-23,correspondwith the eyes 6 which at one end engage the said eyes 24and atthe other are provided with. springs 26 i 3. An attaching clipcomprisingtwohalves changed in direction or is likely to be changed IIO ing at theother side of the clip a second lip In testimony whereof I aifix mysignature in or projection and the other part having an presence of twowitnesses.

eye which receives said second lip or projection to connect the parts atthe opposite side of the clip and a retaining bolt passing Witnesses:through the projections orlips firstrnentioned, WM. A. MACLEOD,substantially as set forth. CHAS. F. RANDALL.

LOUIS MCOART HY.

